Winston Salem Times

One-way streets can make navigating through a downtown area a challenge, so Winston-Salem residents are glad to see that the city’s plan to change First and Second streets to two-way traffic is coming to fruition.

"I think it will make it really accessible for a lot of people,” Charlotte Vail, who lives between the two streets, said in a WTVD report. "I think it will slow down some traffic that is one of the areas and one of the main concerns.” 

The city hopes connectivity will be improved by traffic slowing down because it will make it so drivers don't have to cut through neighborhoods to get to their destination.

"We see that occasionally, and so that's something that I think will kind of help matters by making the streets two-way,” Vail said of people cutting through. Portions of first and second opened to two-way traffic Wednesday. 

The city also plans to extend curbs like one on Third Street and Liberty to improve visibility for pedestrians and protect on-street parking.

Sean Hall, who has experience walking in the area, thinks that getting rid of the island in its corner would help improve walkability.

”I mean if you look at it now, it’s been blocked off for so long it's not even being used on the corner of the intersection, so if you were to go ahead and extend the sidewalk it would just be practical, make it easier for everyone walking across it,” Hall said.

In the future, the city plans to convert Liberty and Main streets, which connect downtown with Old Salem, to two-way streets after construction on First and Second Street is complete. The goal is for the entire project to be completed within two years.